Rural communities — especially those living in less developed regions outside Java and Bali — have fallen behind in the race to get vaccinated since the nationwide vaccine drive began in March, mainly because of unequal vaccine distribution, poor management and poor access to vaccination centers.

These are exacerbated by the fact that the government’s vaccination strategy has been prioritizing urban agglomeration areas and provincial capitals, mostly on the most densely populated island of Java and Indonesia's main tourist destination Bali, as authorities believe areas with a higher population density pose a greater risk of COVID-19 transmission.

In September, when the national vaccination rates stood at 33 percent for the first dose and only 19 percent for the second dose, authorities promised to administer first shots to 70 percent of the targeted populations in agglomeration areas in Java and Bali by the end of that month. They also sought to reach the same target in all provincial capitals outside of the two islands by October.

This approach led to widening vaccine gaps between regions. As of Tuesday, more than 100 percent of the target recipients in Jakarta and some 87 percent of the target population in Bali have been fully vaccinated — far above the national average of 38 percent.

Vaccination rates in the country's easternmost provinces, such as Papua and Maluku, meanwhile, remain alarmingly poor, each at around 18 percent for the second dose, or only a sixth of Jakarta's.

Now, eight months into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the government finally decided to depart from its previous strategy and focus on improving vaccine coverage in regions that are lagging behind, according to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

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